Triple $$$ Ranch
John McCain and Barack Obama Began ’08 Race as Populist Renegades; That Was Then: From Drilling to Campaign Funding, Systems Encroach: ‘It’s Hard to Be the Rebel When You Are the Nominee,’ Says Pete King
John McCain used to be Lincoln Chafee’s kind of Republican.
In 2001, Mr. McCain and Mr. Chafee were the only two Republican senators to vote against George Bush’s tax cuts.
Now, Mr. McCain favors making them permanent, and Mr. Chafee thinks the Arizona senator has lost the right to call himself a maverick.
“Technically, the definition of maverick in the dictionary is an unbranded calf, which is appropriate—you got no brand on your flank,” said Mr. Chafee, a former Republican moderate from Rhode Island who lost his seat to a Democrat in 2006 and switched to independent. “McCain just made a calculated decision to pander. And he got a brand on his flank. The ‘R’ brand. My own feeling is that credibility is everything and you just get cracks in your credibility when you have to pander to the extent that he has. It’s just not the same John McCain.”
Even as Mr. Obama takes a pounding in the press for breaking an earlier vow to operate within a public campaign financing system—confirming, at least for political observers who weren’t paying much attention to him as he came up through the ranks of the Illinois Democratic firmament, that he is a typically pragmatic politician—Mr. McCain has staked out positions that are guaranteed to damage the unusual reputation for independence on which his campaign, and his career, are premised.
“Each of them has some differences from what you’d expect,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, the Director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. “But neither of them can make a pure case to be the exemplar. It’s not an airtight case on either side.”
The problem for Mr. McCain is that he has more to lose by surrendering his specialness. In a political climate overwhelmingly favorable to Democrats—where Barack Obama has raised record amounts of money, where George Bush is more albatross than lame duck and where a recent Washington Post/ABC poll of Congressional districts showed a Democrat beat a generic Republican 53-38—Mr. McCain needs to be different.
“The question is going to be has McCain burnished his maverick credentials enough,” said Tony Fabrizio, a Republican pollster not working for any candidate in the race. “Has he reinforced that image enough to withstand a certain onslaught?”
While Mr. McCain continues to stand apart from most of the G.O.P. on campaign finance reform, stem cell research and the closing of Guantánamo Bay, he has since the last presidential election made some unforgettable—and, for some of his oldest fans, incomprehensible—concessions to orthodoxy.
In addition to the Bush tax cuts, which he once said he couldn’t support because “so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us,” he has switched positions on matters related to energy policy, immigration and abortion, among other things.
In 2003, Mr. McCain voted against offshore drilling, but this month, he told reporters “that lifting the moratoria from offshore drilling or oil and natural gas exploration is something that we should place as a very high priority.” (In 2001 and 2006 he voted for drilling in Florida.) And as recently as May he expressed openness to considering a windfall profits tax on the oil industry. A month later he went to Texas and slammed Mr. Obama for a similar proposal.
Mr. McCain sponsored the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill two years ago, which proposed a comprehensive approach to immigration reform that provided a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants. Conservative Republican voters punished him for it and Mr. McCain has since shifted his emphasis to tightening border security.
Before his first bid for the White House Mr. McCain said he would “not support” the repeal of Roe v. Wade, but now his campaign Web site says it is a “flawed decision that must be overturned.”
Representative Pete King of New York, who endorsed Mr. McCain in 2000 and campaigned with him around the state, remembers the heady days of that campaign—a true insurgency against the conservative Bush restoration that captivated the media.
Mr. King recalled eating donuts on the back of the bus while the candidate held court with reporters, like “sitting in the bar on a Saturday night with a bunch of guys.”
But then, as Mr. King explained, Mr. McCain wasn’t the Republican nominee eight years ago.
“There was a certain romance about the campaign—it was this insurgent campaign, it was the guy on the bus versus the mighty Republican establishment, and I guess in some sense the media fell into that,” said Mr. King. He added, “If some of his positions are more refined or more consolidated I think that is to be expected when you are the party nominee. It’s hard to be the rebel insurgent when you are the nominee of the party.”
Dan Schnur, a Republican strategist and the communications director for Mr. McCain’s 2000 campaign, said that the “realities of a general election” posed risks to the political images of both general-election candidates, but he also suggested that Mr. McCain in particular suffered from an unrealistic expectation about just how much the candidate could break with his party.
Recalling an interview with a liberal editorial board in 2000, Mr. Schnur said Mr. McCain “talked for quite a long time about campaign finance reform and special interests and soft money, and after about 20 minutes of conversation on those issues, one of the editorial writers leaned over to him and said, ‘Senator, are you sure you are not pro-choice?’”
The McCain campaign argues that Mr. McCain has only changed to reflect the needs of the country and the reality on the ground. He opposed the Bush tax cuts, they say, on the grounds that they didn’t include a corresponding reduction in government spending. They say he opposed offshore drilling because it was a states’ rights issue that had subsequently been resolved. And the spectacular death of his immigration bill on the floor of the Senate—it nearly cost him the nomination—simply caused him to change his mind. Next Page >
- Poll
- Obama (D)
- McCain(R)
- Spread
- RCP Average
- 49.7
- 42.4
- Obama +7.3
- Candidate
- Favorable
- Unfavorable
- Spread
- Obama
- 55.9
- 36.7
- +19.2
- McCain
- 49.6
- 41.7
- +7.9
Gee, it must be some kinda slow news day, to be printing what Lincoln Chafee has to say. How is he, anyway? Is his hair still way out of control? Does he still think that he's some kind of bigshot, because he liked to stick his finger in the eye of his own party? Is he one of those guys that are having sex together on the beaches of Provincetown, in Cape Cod? Other than that, who gives a rats' Chafee, what this little puke has to say? Next time, you might want to ask him if he gets up to P-Town very often. He looks like he'ld enjoy the beach. What, with all that girl hair of his.
How is it that John McCain's credibilty is an issue but not Barack Obama's?
Maybe he can take Charlie Crist with him. That'd be a high old time!
Cindy McCain is a druggie.
McCain is Obama light. Both have drunk the kool-aid on global warming. Cap and trade is complete State control of the economy. Anyone remember the USSR. Check out the volcano in Peru. It is spewing out in one day more junk than we will, ever. We have 1.6 TRILLION bbls of recoverable oil in the US and Canada. Enough to last us until a substitute can be found.
McCain is falling inline with GWB policies(Neo-con policies) as he has voted 90+% with him. The claim that he is a "maverick" is blatantly false. Poinintg that out just irks you and him. John McCain could debate himself, as he has chnaged position on so many issues to conform to what the Republican base wants. The wuthor didn't even give the full list, just the highlights. Obama wins in November easily, 300+ electoral college votes.
Meantime, while we ignore & deny immigration to educated Immigrants that will build this country we let Millions of American hating, uneducated peons pour across our borders at a cost of 20k per year for each one as they slop at the trough of Public Welfare while they commit numerous felonies from Identify thief, income tax fraud, benefits fraud, as they destroy or schools, our medical systems, drive down our standard of living import their corruption and crime as they and rob, rape and kill American citizens by the 10,s of thousands. For this great service to American they are promised the reward of American Citizenship by both of our Presidential candidates where they can be even more effective at slopping at the trough of public welfare!
McCain is in a position of a transgender candidate who hopes IT would appeal to both genders. Call it a maverick.
Affirmative action has its place, but not for the presidency. Come November, when Americans have to seriously consider about the consequences of electing Obama who is hands down the most grossly unqualified candidate to ever be nominated by a major party to seek the presidency, not to mention Obama is a hardline Marxist socialist, McCain will win by a landslide. What is truly sad is the average American has the highest quality of life on the planet but so many pathetic, spoiled, child-minded losers have convinced themselves that they are have-nots and victims because they haven't gotten everything they ever wanted and they are mighty angry about it.
Marx predicted that people in shanty-towns would rise up and take the factory from the rich owner in the mansion on the hill. Could anyone have predicted that people living in 1500+ square foot homes with several cars, 200 channel cable/satellite, high-speed internet, a cell phone, an i-pod and a flat-panel big screen TV would be so pathetic as to convince themselves that they are victims of "the system." Should these people actually get the "change, change, change" that they whine about I think they will be mightily surprised where they find themselves. This is just really truly sad how spoiled and ignorant so many Americans have become. Sadly, should they figure out the error of their ways after years of socialism drags their lifestyle way down there is unlikely going to be anything they can do about it. Socialists have traditionally stopped real democratic process and have traditionally disarmed the citizenry to cement their totalitarian power. Seeing the hardline socialist shift with the Democrats it becomes very clear why the Democrats have the anti-gun agenda. If you believe it is about reducing crime you are dumber than dirt.
Obama will win easily in November. No questions asked.
The story was interesting though a little thin. But these comments are completely asinine. Don't bother reading any further.
Hey, Obama, don't let John McClain get away with his attack on you for not taking public finances. Start talking about all of the flip-flopping he has done since he was a Republican maverick and now when he walks the Bush path.
I would consider all of these issues a break in a promise for the purpose of obtaining the presidency. So who is he to be attacking you.
McCain has flip flopped on core issues which impune his credibility. Obama's position on campaign finance is not really inconsistent with his original position. Obama's committment to public finance was predicated on agreement on control of '527s'. The internet smear campaign against Obama, which McCain did little or nothing to curb, persuaded Obama that negotiating the role of '527s' was impossible; thus removing the condition on which his original committment was founded. If McCain were the 'high road' politician he claims to be, he would have been more outspoken against the smear campaign so that Obama would feel less need to have financial resources to counter it.
Because he wants to project the image of the 'Straight Talk Express.'
Ivanhoe, the most significant 527 ad so far is Baby Alex by MoveOn and it is directed against McCain. Looks to me like Obama shifted on both the 527s and public finance. As for the primary smears against Obama, they are more on Clinton than on McCain. The Chicago machine lives on.
What happened to McCain the maverick? THat's easy to answer! John McCain sold himself out so he could stumble his way to the GOP nomination,
I submit that had he remained his maverick self (as I fondly remember him from 2000) we might not have stuck with W for the last 8 years. McCain would have beat Al Gore and would have made a good president. At least he would not have been captive the evangelical right wing of the GOP as BUsh has been far too many times.
This election cycle I'm voting either for Bob Barr or Dr. Ron Paul. Either of these two is preferable to voting for a racist, ulra-left candidate who thinks he can buy the White House by reneging on his pledge about using public funds or John McCain who stumbled on to the GOP nomination only because most of the GOP forgot their principles and didn't vote for Ron Paul. And- I repeat- John McCain sold his soul.
A nice homophobic rant laden with innuendo about Chafee. This adds what to answering the question of whether McCain is a maverick or a traditional conservative Republican?
Zippy-
It's good to acknowledge how priveleged we are as Americans, but we do not have the highest standard of living in the world. In fact, we rank towards the bottom of industrialized countries in lifespan, infant mortality, health, education and levels of happiness.
We have big houses, lots of cars and tvs and guns and cell phones, but we also have too much personal debt, eat crappy food, spend too much on gas-gussling cars, worry about retirement, healthcare and putting our kids through, and we die too early from crazies with assault rifles, unsafe SUVs, lung cancer, and preventable strokes and heart-attacks.
We have the freedom to choose these things (low taxes, little government regulation), or choose the alternative, as they do in most of Europe. In America we have the freedoms to pollute, carry a gun, let HMOs deny coverage of preventative medicine, give taxbreaks to oil companies and subsidized agribusiness so they can produce cheap unhealthy food. But don't delude yourself into thinking your choices are without consequence.
Zippy-
It's good to acknowledge how priveleged we are as Americans, but we do not have the highest standard of living in the world. In fact, we rank towards the bottom of industrialized countries in lifespan, infant mortality, health, education and levels of happiness.
We have big houses, lots of cars and tvs and guns and cell phones, but we also have too much personal debt, eat crappy food, spend too much on gas-gussling cars, worry about retirement, healthcare and putting our kids through, and we die too early from crazies with assault rifles, unsafe SUVs, lung cancer, and preventable strokes and heart-attacks.
We have the freedom to choose these things (low taxes, little government regulation), or choose the alternative, as they do in most of Europe. In America we have the freedoms to pollute, carry a gun, let HMOs deny coverage of preventative medicine, give taxbreaks to oil companies and subsidized agribusiness so they can produce cheap unhealthy food. But don't delude yourself into thinking your choices are without consequence.
In the beginning the media mouth conservatives hated McCain, the supply sidewinder conservatives hated McCain, and the social conservatives voted for Huckabee. Who were the masked supporters propelling McCain to victory in the primaries? I called them the straight shooter conservatives. I think McCain made a huge mistake and has flipped flopped off his base pandering to the other groups. I think many of those people supported McCain because he was seen as different and represented a change. The very change that Obama has been preaching from day one. Many of those people may well switch to Obama before Election Day and many more may just not vote. If this is true I think Obama will have a 15-point lead by September in the national polls. One thing that I thought was great about McCain was he put the other conservative groups in their place. The media mouths, the supply sidewinders, and the social conservatives thought they were the dominant powers and this land belonged to them. It was nice to see that there were enough Americans out there, who believed this land, belonged to them. It is too bad McCain in his last gasp sold his soul at the company store.
Zippy -
First of all ... Relax and take a serious look at whats happening in this country. The "Haves", "Have Mores", and "The Have Nots" are all suffering. The sad thing is that the majority of Americans don't know what they are suffering from. We all feel the pains that the current adminstration has heaped upon the American people. I am not against tax breaks for the wealthy, but those breaks must be matched with additional spending cuts. What most concerns me is the "old" mentatlity thats in Washington today. This "old" way of thinking is really and truely destroying our country. The old remedies that they (GOP) want to keep in place will not fix current or future problems. Our enfrastructure (Water systems, gas systems, train lines, internet access etc) is out of date and does not allow us to compete effectively in a global market. We need alternatives to travel, fuel, and education.
America used to be the inovative nation. We were the country where everything originated from. Others looked to us for guidance. Now our educational system lags behind some 3rd world countries. Our children get dumber as they pass from grade to grade. Children have lost respect for our elders and have no respect for authority. What was the last greatest invention that came from the US that had the impact of Ford's Model T or Whitney's Cotton Gin.
Change NEEDS to happen in America ASAP or else we may no longer exist as the flourishing world leaders. Our #1 spot is in serious jeopardy right now and McCain is not the one to sustain our position b/c he is spouting the same rhetoric that this current administration is spouting and thats what has continued the downward spiral. As an independent, I would have no problem voting for McCain of 2000, but today he has changed way too much. Quite honestly, if he had won the presidency over Gore, we probably would not be in this mess right now.
Just my $0.02
Obama has NEVER been a rebel. He has never departed from his socialist ideology and he has never crossed the aisle to compromise with the other side. He is not "an agent of change"-he is no different from the other leftist Democrats in Congress. As for being a "uniter" his rhetoric has done nothing but inflame anyone who disagrees with him. I predict that if he becomes president incidences of "racism" will rise proportionately with disagreements by the right on his policies.
Obama has NEVER been a rebel. He has never departed from his socialist ideology and he has never crossed the aisle to compromise with the other side. He is not "an agent of change"-he is no different from the other leftist Democrats in Congress. As for being a "uniter" his rhetoric has done nothing but inflame anyone who disagrees with him. I predict that if he becomes president incidences of "racism" will rise proportionately with disagreements by the right on his policies.
McCain supporters... join me in giving at johnmccain.com. I have given $262 in June (so far) - let's keep the donations going for an American hero. What is your time worth? Quit reading droll comments and put your money where your mouth is!
McCain will win easily in November. No questions asked.
you sound like an ELITIST but most of all a WING NUT who has gooton spoiled by having your kind dictate policies in this country for 7 yrs too long....your kind of ignorance to call Obama marxist is nothing but FEAR that you and your nuts are losing ground in this country and we are starting to listen and see what has happened...two wars, economic depression, jobs lost, forclosures, reputatation lost abroad, no energy policy exzcept begging the saudis for more oil or drill our way to energy independence, poverty has risen, climate change is ignored..and the list goes on and on...but let us talk about old man MCCAIN...we want a competent president..not one that was discarded in 2000..not even his own party thought he was qualified then so why is he qualified now...he is older and more ignorant of the world around him...he thinks we live in the 70's. we need someone with vision and a new kind of leadership and your wing nuts cannot deliver. it takes a democrat to clean up the mess a Republican leaves...we are owned by china presently. Are we better off today than we were 8 years ago? the answer by over 80% of us know that the country is in the wrong direction..GROW UP AND FACE REALITY!!!! YOU WILL LOSE!!!
Nice how the idea of "adjusting" is spun as a positive trait. I suppose if the maverick is elected (fat chance) he'll "adjust" again and that'll be even BETTER for us! Right?
What happened to maverick McCain? Nothing:
2000 - McCain opposes ethanol subsidies despite political risk.
2002 - McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act
2004 - McCain investigation of Boeing tankers
2005 - McCain-Kennedy Comprehensive Immigration Bill
2006 - McCain steps up assault on earmarks
2007 - McCain advocates for surge strategy despite risk to presidential campaign
Over the course of his career, Sen. McCain has battled concentrated power more than any other legislator. There have always been critics who cherry-pick his compromises, ignore his larger efforts and accuse him of being a hypocrite. This is, of course, the gospel of the mediocre man: to ridicule someone who tries something difficult on the grounds that the effort was not a total success. John McCain ia anything but mediocre and neither is the majority of the American people who will defy the pundits come November.
McCain is a maverick.
Maverick translates to not branded.
That means no one knows where he really stands,
or what he really stands for.
McCain flip-flops more than a schizophrenic.
McCain is a maverick and that means unstable,
unreliable and untrustworthy.
Dear lord, why would anyone vote for a very old man who has had three malignant melanomas and will probably have more -- how arrogant and narcissistic of him to believe he should be president with that medical history.
And people, his plane was shot down and he was captured, and imprisoned, HE WAS NOT IN GROUND COMBAT, no matter how often he works the limp & war hero silliness.